Philippines welcomes presence of US Navy ships at Spratlys

From the Business Mirror (Oct 9): Philippines welcomes presence of US Navy ships at Spratlys

DEFENSE Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said on Friday he supports the decision of the US to send navy ships close to the reefs that were reclaimed and occupied by China in the Spratly islands on the West Philippine Sea to prove that there is freedom of navigation in the area.

At the same time, Gazmin said the government will extend any assistance to the US Navy plan, one of which is to allow US ships to dock in Philippine ports and bases.

“We have been allowing all ships to dock in our area… those that have security and defense cooperation with us as part of their port call protocols,” Gazmin said during the anniversary celebration of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, one of the agencies under the Department of National Defense.

The US is set to challenge China’s claims over the South China Sea with the plans of sending US Navy ships inside the 22-kilometer territorial limit surrounding the reefs claimed by Beijing in the area also claimed by the Philippines.

The US Navy said it was just awaiting approval to sail.

Sending of navy ships to the area will prove the US’s stance that it does not recognize China’s sovereignty over international waters.

Gazmin said he welcomed the US move of sending ships close to the area reclaimed by Beijing and even conduct overflights, an exercise that US military aircraft had done in the past.

“They have always been doing that in the first place. They said that they will fly…they will sail in those areas as they have been doing before just to prove that there is freedom of navigation,” he said.

“It is some sort of showing that they are following the rule of law,” Gazmin added.

He said the presence of the US in the territories that are being claimed by China is within its rights, since the areas are supposed to be part of international waters, and if the US is challenged, then it will only prove that freedom of navigation does not exist.

“What America will do is within its rights because it has been doing it all along. If it would be challenged, then it would prove there is no freedom of navigation,” he said.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/philippines-welcomes-presence-of-us-navy-ships-at-spratlys/